2 Plead Guilty to Rigging Sweepstakes Contests

Two New Jersey sweepstakes executives pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to secretly arranging for friends and relatives to win prizes in nationwide contests sponsored by Alpha Beta supermarkets and Taco Bell restaurants.

C&K; Marketing’s president, John Edward Curtin III, and its vice president, Kevin Joseph Kissane, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a government recommendation that they receive probation instead of prison terms. C&K;, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., ran the contests. Most of the fraudulent acts took place in California, prosecutors say.

Curtin, who was charged with mail fraud, and Kissane, charged with wire fraud, each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Pamela Rymer set sentencing for Dec. 18.

In a plea agreement, charges against two others in the case, Jerome S. Baratta and Kim Curtin, were dropped.

Baratta, a New Jersey car dealer related to Kissane, won the $25,000 second prize in Taco Bell’s “Wheels, Reels and Meals” contest.

Kim Curtin, of South Laguna, who is Curtin’s brother, helped rig the contests in which a fifth defendant, Navy aircraft mechanic James Frederick Lee, won the $28,500 grand prize in Alpha Beta’s “California Dreamin’ ” promotion and the $25,000 grand prize in Taco Bell’s sweepstakes.

Lee, 51, of San Diego, pleaded guilty in September, 1988, to mail fraud and agreed to testify against the others had they gone to trial. He has not been sentenced.